Tech Report: Kickstarter Marks Millionth Backer

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Only a year after it was created, the online crowd funding source Kickstarter has signed up its millionth member. This is astronomical growth for a new company. KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid said that the site’s success may be partially due to how quickly and easily it works for many people.

”I actually hadn’t used Kickstarter until a few days ago, but my son is a musician and he is putting together an album, and he is seeking backers,” said Magid. “He went on there and put up a video and a pledge, and so far he’s raised about $1,200 or $1,300 towards the $2,500 he needs. I was really pleased.”

KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid Comments:

Artists and creators, or anyone who needs funding for a project goes on Kickstarter and create a certain incentive. For example, if you pledge a certain amount of money to a singer, you may get tickets to an event, or copies of an album, or an autograph. You can contribute as little as one dollar.

”I went in there and found a bunch of projects that didn’t involve my son, but I wanted to support, and gave relatively small amounts of money to them,” said Magid.

Magid said that people really like the idea of crowd sourcing. They enjoy that you can reach massive amounts of people on the internet.

“Instead of getting one big sugar daddy to back your project, you might get 1,000 people to give you $5 each, and get plenty of money,” said Magid.

He calls Kickstarter an example of what the internet was created for.

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Larry Magid is a technology journalist and an Internet safety advocate.
He serves as on-air technology analyst for CBS News, is co-director of ConnectSafely.org and founder of SafeKids.com. He also writes columns that appear on CNET New...